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Zhu et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2017;4:219-27 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2017.71
Aesthetic Research

www.parjournal.net
Topic: Applications of Biomaterials in Plastic and Reconstructive Research Open Access

Hyaluronic acid: a versatile biomaterial in

tissue engineering

Zhu Zhu, Yin-Min Wang, Jun Yang, Xu-Song Luo
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai
200011, China.

Correspondence to: Dr. Xu-Song Luo, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong
University School of Medicine, No. 639, Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China. E-mail: luoxs71@126.com

How to cite this article: Zhu Z, Wang YM, Yang J, Luo XS. Hyaluronic acid: a versatile biomaterial in tissue engineering. Plast Aesthet Res 2017;4:219-
27.
ABSTRACT
Article history: The design and application of hyaluronic acid (HA)-based scaffolds to control cell response and
Received: 28 Sep 2017 construct ideal tissue engineering products have been of great interest in the past few decades.
First Decision: 1 Dec 2017 This review provides an overview of the biological properties of HA to better understand how
Revised: 8 Dec 2017 to engineer a cell-scaffold composite that is qualified in tissue engineering; important tissue
Accepted: 8 Dec 2017 engineering applications of HA including cartilage tissue engineering; and lastly, the problems
Published: 29 Dec 2017 of the current research on HA. All the data described above were collected and analyzed from
PubMed, EMBASE and Medline.
Keywords:
Hyaluronic acid,
biomaterials,
tissue engineering and
regenerative medicine,
stem cells

INTRODUCTION become a hotspot in the fields of scaffold materials
in tissue engineering because of its ubiquitously
Hyaluronic acid or hyaluronan (HA) was the first isolated distribution in vertebrate tissues, good biocompatibility
[1]
from bovine vitreous humor by Meyer and Palmer and non-toxic degradation products. The versatility of
in 1934. It was named because of its transparent HA is closely related to its unique properties, andHA
appearance in water and the probable presence of with its different states or molecular weights can
hexuronic acid as one of the components. HA is a exhibitdiverse features. Therefore, to understand the
linear polysaccharide without branches and is one application of HA, the basic physical, chemical and
of the most important components of extracellular biological properties of HA must first be understood.
matrix. Researches demonstrated that HA plays an
important role in regulating cell differentiation, migration, A review of the literature was performed by searching
angiogenesis and inflammation responses [2-5] . HA has the keywords “hyaluronic acid” AND “tissue

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